F for Fresita

I admit to sampling, not too disagreeably, the Chilean strawberry infused sparkling "Fresita" when it first came on the market a few years ago. But the degree to which Finns - especially of the female working class variety - have adopted the stuff is truly shocking. It's now sold in little 25cl bottles, which the faux trendy stadi couple next to me at Roberts cafe in Helsinki-Vantaa just washed their morning coffee and pulla down with. That this was 8:30am scarcely matters. The sweetly sticky stuff has become soda pop for adults. It now makes me gag as much from the taste in my mouth as the repeated exhortations of those proferring it that, "it's made with real strawberries." End rant.